Prodrive sorts out Alfa Brera
By Dan Trent
May 07 2008
Now the Alfa Romeo Brera is a beautiful looking car, of that there is no doubt. But when we tested it last year we found the handling didn't quite live up to the gorgeous appearance. But help is at hand, in the shape of Banbury-based tuning and race preparation gurus Prodrive.
Best known for its work on both WRC and road-spec Subarus, Prodrive has also transformed Aston Martin and Ferrari road cars into winning racers. Suffice to say, transforming the lumpy-handling Brera into the 3-Series coupé rival it aspires to be should be well within the firm's abilities.
GALLERY: Alfa Romeo Brera
To be launched on May 19, the UK-specific Brera S has taken a year of development work. And project leader Peter Cambridge says the mods have "built on the existing model's capabilities to deliver outstanding driver feedback and handling." It will also be strictly limited, with just 500 due to be built.
Given that one of our main criticisms of the Brera centres around its hefty 1,540kg kerbweight - an issue it shares with the related 159 - it remains to be seen how much Prodrive has been able to address its nose-heavy handling. Steering feel is another area of concern, and something the modifications hopefully address too.
Certainly Alfa Romeo seems keen to deliver on its reputation as a sporting brand, as we discovered when we drove the limited-slip differential equipped Q2 versions of the 147 and GT coupe last year. And by concentrating the new Brera S on the petrol-engined versions Prodrive is clearly pegging the car at the performance market.
That said there won't be upgrades to the engines, which means the S will be available as either a 182bhp 2.2-litre four-cylinder or sonorous 256bhp 3.2-litre V6. The body and cabin will benefit from special upgrades though, and get a numbered plaque. More information and prices will follow.
A sve ovo bi trebala biti osnova za buduću GTA verziju...
